Eating our daily quota of fruits and vegetables should be a no-brainer by now, as we have long heard of the health benefits accompanying a balanced diet. And now researchers in Sweden have discovered that eating more fruit could lower risks for an often-lethal form of aortic aneurysm.
The researchers, led by Dr. Otto Stackelberg of the Karolinska Institute, published their findings in the American Heart Association's journal Circulation.
After dividing over 80,000 people between the ages of 46 and 84 years into four groups based on the amount of fruit and vegetable they ate each day, the researchers then embarked on a 13-year follow-up study. During that time, they found that 1,086 people had abdominal aortic aneurysms, 222 of which ruptured.
This type of aortic aneurysm involves a swelling of the lower part of the aorta, the body's main artery. Though rare, the researchers note, it is lethal in many cases. Men in the study accounted for over 80% of aneurysms, ruptured aneurysms included.
Compared with the group who ate the least amount of fruit (less than one daily serving), those who ate the most fruit (over two servings) had a 25% lower risk of developing an aneurysm and a 43% lower risk of one that ruptured.
Fruit juice did not count towards servings in the study.
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